North Carolina

Like many American cities, Durham, N.C. has been turning once-abandoned factories into tech hubs and microbreweries. Over the decades, it has also been building a shared commitment to the poor, the disenfranchised, and people of color. Barry Yeoman, a veteran journalist who has lived in and loved Durham since 1985, digs into the city’s soul. And he discovers an architecture underneath this community with some unusual layers.

On December 31, 2017, the doorsl closed in North Carolina on Cone Denim’s White Oak plant, the first, and now the last, big textile mill in the U.S. to make vintage-style denim. When our correspondent visited, he discovered that the secret to classic jeans has long come from a strange mix of obsolete machinery and American mythology. And their future, it turns out, is not as bleak as you might expect.

Across the U.S., scores of schools and other programs offer courses and workshops in everything from boat-building to glass blowing to knife making. But no one has created an informed guide to all these courses—until now. If you’ve always wanted to become a better woodworker, make and smoke your own sausage, or fix your grandfather’s antique violin, here are detailed descriptions of the nine best programs we could find.

If you’re tired of smelling like everyone else, you can finally say ‘No’ to the big #perfume houses.A growing number of #indieperfume artists are now bottling a world of intoxicating new scents that we never thought were possible.https://t.co/rxlvHGy5WQ

The recent closing of @GM plants in US and Canada has been a shock for the industry. Kristin Sharp and Molly Kinder explore how #technology and the workforce are changing in our article "The #Workforce Dilemma" https://t.co/8kcA53WooyWhat do you...